A teacher who became infatuated with a pupil, showering him with gifts and messages of love, has been banned from teaching indefinitely.
Yvonne Preston, a former teacher at Castle Hall Academy in Mirfield, sent messages to the teenager declaring her love for him, a teaching tribunal heard.
A National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) panel heard the married mother asked the boy to dance with her in front of his class at the end of year prom.
Mrs Preston, 49, begged the pupil to see her again after he left school, the panel was told.
In a greetings card sent to the boy, Mrs Preston wrote: “I have loved having you in my life; I’ve loved spoiling you.
“The thought of not seeing you, talking to you and just being with you breaks my heart – so I’m asking don’t go. Don’t leave. Please stay with me!”
In a Christmas card she wrote: “You mean far too much to me than you should – but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
And in another card she wrote: “You light up my world like nobody else.”
The panel heard that Mrs Preston had bought the pupil a mug and calendar, both including her home address, as well as a DVD box set and a concert ticket.
Mrs Preston had also downloaded photos of the pupil onto her work laptop and had called the boy into a storeroom to discuss a comment he had posted on Twitter.
The panel heard Mrs Preston, who worked at the school from December 2011 and May 2013, sent inappropriate text messages to another pupil regarding the boy.
She resigned in June 2013 after disciplinary proceedings were started by the school.
Mrs Preston was barred from teaching at schools, colleges and children’s homes indefinitely.
She will have to wait at least two years before she can re-apply to the NCTL – a government body which regulates teachers’ conduct – to have her ban lifted.
The panel accepted there was ‘some evidence’ that Mrs Preston was suffering from mental health problems at the time and she had shown ‘genuine remorse’.
But panel member and NCTL deputy director Alan Meyrick concluded: “This conduct fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession and amounts to unacceptable professional conduct.
“In addition the panel also found that Mrs Preston’s actions constitute conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute.”
The panel decided that while Mrs Preston’s behaviour had not amounted to ‘serious sexual misconduct’ there had been an ‘abuse of position’.
Mr Andy Pugh, principal at Castle Hall, said the matter was dealt with by the school more than a year ago.
He said the school had taken decisive action as soon as matters were brought to its attention.
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